This invention relates to couplings for pipes, hoses and like conduits (herein referred to simply as "pipes") and, more specifically, to so-called dry-break couplings which are used in, for example, the delivery and transfer of toxic, hazardous and dangerous fluids such as benzine and acids.
Various forms of pipe couplings have been proposed with a view to providing for the rapid connection and release of pipes with a minimal loss of the fluid which is being conveyed. Such couplings, when of a very simple nature, usually involve a definite fluid loss on disconnection and may involve the risk of considerable loss due to incorrect opening of the coupling. Safety couplings of various kinds have also been proposed, but these have been of a relatively complicated and sometimes imperfect nature, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a dry-break pipe coupling (i.e. a coupling which can be opened with no or with an acceptably small loss of fluid) which is extremely safe in operation and is relatively simple in construction.